SRINAGAR: Kashmiri separatist leader Altaf Ahmad Shah, the son-in-law of late pro-Pakistan Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, died of cancer at AIIMS on Tuesday. Shah, popularly known as ‘Altaf Fantoosh’, was 66 and is survived by his wife, son and two daughters. Shah’s body was handed over to his family members by the hospital after necessary formalities and it is being taken to Srinagar for last rites.
“Abu breathed his last at AIIMS as a prisoner,” said Ruwa Shah, Altaf’s daughter.
Shah, a resident of Srinagar’s Soura locality, was arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017 along with six others in terror funding case. He was lodged at Delhi’s Tihar jail. Shah, 66, who was a close aide of Geelani, was shifted to AIIMS Delhi on directions of Delhi High Court a few days back after he was diagnosed with cancer.
He was earlier admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in New Delhi. While claiming the RML hospital does not have adequate facility to treat renal cancer, the counsel suggested to shift him to AIIMS or Apollo Hospital for urgent treatment. Shah was diagnosed with renal cancer, which had metastasised and spread to other body parts, including bones.
Earlier, Ruwa wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention in the release of her father, diagnosed with the disease. Shah is among top separatist leaders who have died in prison since last year. Earlier, on May 5, 2021, separatist leader Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai died in the Udhampur jail while he was under detention. In September 2021, Syed Ali Geelani 92, died at his Hyderpora residence, where he was under house arrest.